William Alexander McArthur

William Alexander McArthur (1857 – 7 June 1923), was a British Liberal politician and businessman.

William McArthur circa 1906
William McArthur circa 1895

Biography

McArthur was born in Sydney, Australia, the eldest son of Alexander McArthur[1] and his wife Maria Bowden, the second daughter of the Rev. William B. Boyce.[1][2] McArthur's father was a businessman and politician in Australia and England, becoming MP for Leicester.[3] McArthur was educated privately.

On 12 August 1890 at the Trinity Wesleyan Church, Abingdon-on-Thames, Berkshire, he married Florence Creemer (died 24 October 1940),[4] the third daughter of John Creemer Clarke of Wayste Court, Abingdon, and the couple had one son and two daughters.[5][6][7]

He worked as a merchant like his father,[3] and became a partner in the firm of W. and A. McArthur, Colonial Merchants. He was a Director of the Bank of Australasia.[1] He was Mas Commr. for New South Wales at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in 1886.[5]

McArthur was elected to Parliament for Buckrose at the 1886 general election, with a majority of a single vote, but was unseated on a scrutiny being held and the seat was awarded to the Conservative candidate, Christopher Sykes. He entered Parliament for St Austell in an 1887 by-election, a seat he held until 1908. McArthur served in the Liberal administrations of William Ewart Gladstone and the Earl of Rosebery as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1892 to 1895.

McArthur died on 7 June 1923 at a private hospital in Sydney, aged 66, and was interred 8 June at South Head Cemetery.[7]

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References
  1. Mennell, Philip (1892). "McArthur, William Alexander" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  2. The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 August 1853, p. 3.
  3. British Census 1881.
  4. The Times, 26 October 1940, p. 1.
  5. Debrett's House of Commons, 1901.
  6. The Times, 14 August 1890, p. 1.
  7. Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney), 8 June 1923, p. 4.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Christopher Sykes		 Member of Parliament for Buckrose
1886 – 1886		 Succeeded by
Christopher Sykes
Preceded by
William Copeland Borlase		 Member of Parliament for St Austell
1887–1908		 Succeeded by
Thomas Agar-Robartes
Political offices
Preceded by
Sidney Herbert
William Walrond
Sir Herbert Maxwell		 Junior Lord of the Treasury
1892–1895
With: T. E. Ellis
Richard Causton		 Succeeded by
Henry Torrens Anstruther
William Hayes Fisher
Lord Stanley
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